Crossroads
by SimplyEVANGELION
Summary: Life was perfect for Alek and Deryn after they joined Dr. Barlow until one letter from an old friend changed it all. The Leviathan couple face tough decisions and rough roads, but everything will be fine, right? post-goliath.
1. Chapter 1: Crossroads

Chapter 1: New lives, old lives

Deryn sighed as she glanced out the window of her apartment, watching the clouds drift across the night sky as she wished she could be up there once again. Oh, to fly again, that would be her greatest wish. She leaned back against her desk chair, placing her pen on the desk as she closed her eyes.

"_So much blasted paperwork."_ She thought. Alek was better at this than her. His clanker brains and princely behaviour made him suited for the job. "_Barking boring, it is."_ She huffs, standing up and walking to the door.

Where was that barking prince anyways? Wasn't he supposed to be back thirty minutes ago? She opens the door, walking down the hallway and through a maze of stairs and corridors to find the lab where Alek worked. A lab where clankers and darwinists alike worked to create bigger and better inventions to transform the world, or so Dr. Barlow said.

Deryn walks through the entrance, through a mess of wires and tools and scrap to find Alek at his worktable doing paperwork. Of course he was, he was barking good at it. She smiled mischievously and quietly walked up to him, sliding her arms around him as she hugged him from behind.

"Mein gott!" Alek shouted, spinning around quickly as he covered up papers on his desk, "Deryn! Christ, you scared me!"

Deryn laughed, "Aye, I suppose I did, your highness." She bowed jokingly, but stopped when Alek still looked concerned. She stood up, "Is everything alright?"

Alek ran a hand through his hair, "Yes. Everything's.. Fine."

If Deryn noticed anything out of the ordinary, she didn't acknowledge it. She simply shrugged, "Well, I'll have you know its 8:45, your princeliness."

Alek nodded, turning back to his desk, "I'll be up in an hour or so. I have.. A lot to do."

Deryn sighed, hating the feeling of disappointment she felt, "Do you know what today is?"

Alek didn't turn around, "It's Wednesday. Why?"

Deryn slid of the edge of the table, a hurt expression on her face, "Oh, nothing, I just couldn't remember. Thanks." She began making her way to the door, but stopped at the doorway, turning to look at the amber haired boy. She had never seen him so distracted before. Was something really wrong? She turned again, making her way to her apartment, leaving Alek alone in his work area.

* * *

As soon as Deryn left, Alek pushed away papers that covered an envelope. He took a deep breath and slit it open, pulling out the papers inside. Alek stared intently at the letter in his hand. It was from Volger, whom he hadn't heard from in 4 years. Everything was going well, he and Deryn were happy, he loved his job, he loved London… So why.. Why did this have to come now. He read the first line again,

'_Lassen Sie sich nicht deine eltern sterben vergeblich. Dies ist lhre letzte zufall. ~Volger'_

Attached to the brief note was a marriage proposal.

"_This is what he means."_ Alek thought, chewing the inside of his cheek, "_My last shot at the throne…" _

At first he was set on burning the letter. He was happy, so was Deryn. They had been together for years, and he… Was thinking of marriage in the not too distant future. But… That line. '_Don't let your parents die in vain'_... How was he supposed to react?

"Scheisse." Alek swore, he didn't know what to do. He loved Deryn, he loved her so much, but his parents had died wanting him on the throne. This was his last chance for his parents, for his people… But not for Deryn…

He ran his hand through his hair, torn in his thoughts. He glanced up at the rest of his desk, lining the shelf were photos of him and Deryn. Beautiful and wonderful Deryn, with all smiles and love. He smiled softly, he would never leave her for anything. Then, a thought came back to him,

"_Do you know what today is?"_

He froze, glancing at the clock. It was 9:25 eyes went to the calendar on his wall, January 16th, Wednesday. He groaned in frustration, clutching his head. He had forgotten their anniversary. How could he be such a dummkopf? Thats what Deryn was asking about, not what _day _it was! He stood up quickly and made his way to her room, knocking on it.

He cleared his throat, "Deryn?". No response. He sighed and opened her door, "Deryn?" He tried again, but there was still nothing. As he crossed the room he could tell why, she was sleeping. He smiled gently at her sleeping face, taking off his shoes before sliding into bed with her.

She stirred, an eye opening, "You forgot.. Dummkopf." She mumbled.

Alek sighed, "I know, liebe. I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you." He watched her pause for a second, thinking it over before looking back at him.

"I'll hold you to that, you daft prince." She yawned, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her as well, his lips pressed on her head as he breathed in her scent and closed his eyes. Still, he couldn't get one thing out of his mind…

What would he do about that verdammt letter?


	2. Chapter 2: Trouble in Paradise

Chapter 2: Trouble in Paradise

Deryn opened her eyes slowly, groaning as the light streaming from the window shined into the light. She leaned into Alek's torso, breathing in his scent as she smiled. This was the best way to wake up, according to her, wrapped in the arms of the one you love. Luckily the boffin hadn't come to check on them. As much as Deryn liked the lady doctor, the force of Dr. Nora Barlow was not not to be tempered with, and neither was her rules on sleeping arrangements. Which was a fair response to their first discovery in a closet together. Yet, it was just barking biology, natural in the sense of things, just not proper for a "young lady" like herself, according to the boffin.

Deryn sighed and looked up to Alek's sleeping face. His mouth was parted ever so slightly, his eyes closed and his hair ruffled from sleep. She brushed her lips against his cheek, making him stir a bit.

"I'll be back in a moment." She whispered, getting up slowly, careful to keep from waking him. She pulled on her shoes and threw on her coat, walking out into the corridor and to the kitchen, wanting to scrounge something up for breakfast. She shivered as she made her way down several flights of steps, "it's barking cold, today." She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"_Mister_ Sharp" A voice called out.

Deryn spun around, looking up to a beastie at the top of the stairs, "Aye, beastie, its me." She smiled as the loris, putting out her hand towards it, "Come on now, let's head to the kitchen, find something to eat."

The beastie scuttled up her arm and perched on her shoulder, chuckling. Deryn smiled at the peculiar creature and went back to her original goal. They were close when the loris leapt off her shoulder and waited for Deryn to open the door.

Deryn laughed, "Hungry, Bovril?"

The beastie looked up at her with large eyes, "Starved." it replied.

She opened the door, "Aye, lets get some scran before my stomach starts growling like a tigeresque." As she opened the door, a light from down the hall caught her attention. She turned and saw the light in Alek's lab was on. She shook her head, smirking, "Blasted prince, forgot to turn off the light." She made her way to Alek's desk and turned off the lamp. As she was leaving an envelope caught her eye. Usually it wouldn't but the name at the bottom shocked her.

"Volger?" She mumbled, picking it up. It was all in clanker talk and she sighed, setting it back down when a paper behind it fell on the floor. She knelt to pick it up, glancing at it before she froze. She read over the sentences again and again, her blood turning cold. " A… M-marriage…" She stuttered. She knew that Alek loved her, but this would give him the opportunity to help his people.

"He wouldn't…" She whispered, a lump forming in her throat, "Would he?" She remembered how Alek talked about Austria, the nostalgia and grief he felt was evident in his eyes. She could tell how much he cared about it. Deryn felt dizzy, and she sat down, staring at the official looking proposal.

She felt sick to her stomach. After all this time, she thought he moved on from this guilt he felt. What would Alek choose? A few days ago Deryn was certain it was her, but this… This was something much bigger. Not some hypothetical situation, it was here. An actual decision that had to be confronted.

But… To which was Alek more loyal to? His country or his love?

Deryn's breath hitched, and she stood up, setting the papers back on the table, "That bum-rag count."She murmured, "Can't leave us alone, can he." She spoke bitterly, trying to shove away the tears pricking her eyes.

"It's all up to Alek now." She sighed, closing her eyes before she walked back to the corridor, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Alek woke up alone in Deryn's bed. He sat up, groaning and stretching as he looked around to see if she was in the room. He stood up, sliding on his shoes that were next to the bed and walked out the door. He knew that if Deryn wasn't here, she would most likely be finding something to eat.

He quickly made his way towards the kitchen, smiling as he heard the loud ruckus inside.

"Barking spiders! Give it back ya bucket of clart!"

Only Deryn would swear that much, and that chuckling could only be Bovril. Alek smiled wider and pushed open the doors, surprised by what he saw. Deryn was inside, but she was covered from head to toe in flour, chasing the beastie around as he scuttled around from counter to counter, leaping and jumping across spills and fallen food

"What happened in here?" Alek laughed. He glanced around at the mess and back at Deryn, who seemed to freeze. She turned to him, a flicker of doubt dancing across her face before an obviously fake and cartoonish smile replaced it.

"B-Bovril, he stole the whisk. He won't give it back." She glared at the loris, "Blasted wanker."

Bovril chuckled, looking down at Deryn from a high shelf, "Wanker." He repeated.

Deryn glared at him harder and Alek shook his head, chuckling to himself. Deryn flushed, "What?" She asked, angry.

"You're fighting with a beastie!" Alek exclaimed, "Not to mention you look like a ghost, since you're covered with flour."

Deryn glanced down at herself, crossing her arms and turning from Alek, "Well, it was an accident."

Alek moved to her side, trying to see her face, "Deryn. Is something wrong?"

"No." Deryn turned again, facing away from him. Her words were clipped, and Alek knew immediately that something had happened. Was she still angry from last night?

"Is it about yesterday? Deryn, I'm so sorry, I lost track of time, I had a lot on my mind and I promise I'll make it up to you." Alek touched her shoulder and Deryn shrugged it off.

"It's… Not that." She sighed. She faced him, but didn't look at him. She wasn't mad, she was… Sad?

Alek pressed his hand against her cheek softly, "Deryn… What's wrong? Please tell me."

Deryn twisted her hands, refusing to look him in the eyes, "Alek… Would you ever… Leave me for monarchy if you had the chance?"

Alek's stomach twisted and he thought about the marriage proposal in the lab. Had she seen it? Would he leave her? His mind was racing between the two choices, "Why… Would you think that?" He asked.

Deryn's ears burned, he had been thinking about it. She knew. He was thinking of leaving her for Austria, and why not? He was the heir to the throne, "No reason. I just. Scheisse, forget it." She pulled away from him and started walking away.

"Deryn, wait." Alek grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. He turned her towards him and held her face in his hands, "Look at me." Deryn looked up at him begrudgingly, Her stormy blue eyes meeting his green ones, "I would never leave you. For anything. Much less the monarchy. You mean the world to me, and I would never want to live a life without you, liebe."

Deryn smiled a bit, leaning forward to hug him, "Alright, you daft prince."

Alek wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face into her flour dusted hair, "Ich liebe dich, Deryn."

"I love you too, dummkopf." Deryn replied. She pressed her soft lips against his.

Alek hugged her tighter and kissed her back. Her fingers played with his hair as she kissed him harder, and he slid his hand down her back, resting at her hips. After all this time from the Leviathan, Deryn had grown, her boyish figure slowly changing into that of a woman's with delicate curves that accented her waist, and Alek had definitely taken note of it. Deryn pressed against him, her chest unbounded and he could feel them against him. He pulled away, kissing her neck.

"Alek" She whispered under her breath.

Alek decided he was going to burn that letter after all.

Suddenly the phone on the kitchen wall rang, and he sighed, pulling away to answer it, "Hello, Zoological Society of London."

"Good morning, Your Highness. Glad to hear that you're awake."

Alek blinked, his stomach flipping as he glanced over at Deryn, "Count Volger."

This couldn't be good.

Whelp, Chapter 2! Yay for pushing aside homework because of boredom and like hell I'm going to take 15 pages worth of notes when there's a lack of Leviathan fanfiction. Sorry for bad writing, but at least I'm contributing, Aye?

See you next chapter!

~SimplyEVANGELION


	3. Chapter 3: Old Friends and New Plans

The voice came out cold and deep from the telephone, and Deryn knew instantly who it was, "Blast it." She cursed under her breath. She watched as Alek's face grew taut, an obvious sign he was frustrated. Deryn leaned back against the counter, a hand running through her hair as she sighed.

"Volger." Alek looked away from Deryn. "How did you-"

"There are always ways of reaching you, and you hardly hid where you were leaving to." The wildcount cut him off, answering the question.

Alek swallowed as he tried to regain his composure, "I see…" There was a beat of thick silence and Alek cleared his throat, "It's great to hear from you again, Count. It's been awhile."

Volger sighed, "Aleksander, you must act. This marriage proposal was hard enough to create and it will not stand forever."

Alek tensed, his anger rising, "Volger, I am not going to. I have given up that destiny."

"it's that girl, isn't it?" The Count's voice was deathly cold, and Alek turned to look at Deryn, her bright blue eyes staring at him, a mix of doubt and pain and sadness welling up inside them.

She was beautiful, and he would never leave her, "Yes, it is Deryn." He replied. Deryn gave a slight smile, and Alek smiled back softly.

The Wildcount was silent for a moment, "Your parents have truly died for nothing then."

Those words hit him like a brick to the head, "Volger. I refuse to take this abuse. You are a dear friend to me, but I will not have you disrespect me in such a way."

A silence settled over them, the brief crackle of electricity going over the line, "Aleksander, please meet with me tonight for dinner. We must talk face to face for you to understand the depth of this situation."

"No Volger, I won't meet with you. I want nothing more to do with you or the crown. I am shaping my own destiny."

"There's a cafe nearby the Zoological society building. 3 blocks away. Meet me there at 8."

"Volger, I-"

"_Please."_

Alek was taken aback by the desperation in the count's voice. He sighed, "Alright. I will meet with you, but I am not agreeing under any circumstances to this proposal at all. Understood?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Goodbye Volger." Alek placed the earpiece on the handle, hanging up on him.

Deryn watched Alek cautiously, "Well?"

Alek ran a hand through his auburn hair, "I'll be meeting with him tonight at 8. He wants to talk to me about…. Something."

Deryn looked away, "The marriage proposal."

Alek nodded, but stopped, turning to her, "How did you know about that?"

Deryn flushed, "It's not hard to hear what he was saying."

Alek looked her in the eye, "Deryn."

She turned away, crossing her arms, "Aye, alright I saw the letter. It was accidental, though. You left the lamp on in your lab and we're not barking rich. I went to turn it off and it was laying on the desk."

Alek stared at her, silent. Deryn sighed, "I'm sorry, Alek. I know it was wrong of me to read your mail. It's your business and your business alone." Deryn turned towards him, her brows knit, "I… Blast it, I was worried, Alek."

Alek took a step towards her, his head tilting towards the side, "Liebe, what were you worried about?" Deryn was quiet, her eyes downcast. "Did you think that... I would leave you for the throne?" Alek asked, a hand reaching towards her. Deryn bit her lip, nodding slightly. He sighed, pulling Deryn towards him and embracing her, "Deryn, I would never leave you for my old life. You are so much more than anything I once had. You are my life now." he lifted her face, looking into her sky blue eyes, "And I would never want it any other way."

Deryn smiled, giving him a peck on the lips, "I love you, you daftie." She murmured.

Alek kissed her deeply, his arms tightening around her waist before pulling away, "I love you too, mein liebling."

They held each other, Deryn's head resting on his chest as Alek, in turn rested his chin on her head. After a comforting silence, Deryn spoke, "Do you… Have to go meet the Count?"

Alek sighed, reaching a hand up to pet Deryn's short blonde hair, "Yes, I do. He's helped me so much. Without him I never would have made it out of Austria-Hungary alive. I.. Never would have met you. I owe him this much, Deryn." Deryn was silent, "Liebe, I'm simply going to tell him that I'm not going to go through with the marriage proposal."

Deryn pulled away too look at him, an eyebrow raised, "Do you swear?"

Alek smiled, "I do. Besides, why would I want some prim proper and snotty girl when I have you?"

Deryn rolled her eyes, "A boyish lass that breaks laws and starts mooning over princes?"

"Precisely. Though I don't know about the boyish part. I'm sure you've noticed, but you have, ehm, _grown_, since we were aboard the Leviathan." Alek looked away, embarrassed.

Deryn pressed her hands against her chest, "Aye, I know. It's getting harder to bind down my chest. Didn't have to do that on the ship, but I'm sure you knew that." Deryn winked at him, making Alek's ears turn red.

"I-I don't know what you mean." Alek stuttered, his eyes glancing left, avoiding the placement of Deryn's hands. "I'm not sure how I would have that sort of knowledge about you."

Deryn smirked, "Don't play innocent now, your princeliness, I'm sure you haven't forgotten our adventures in darkly lit places now, have you?" She lifted her hand and trailed it along Alek's outer arm. "Or maybe, you remember a different time? Dr. Barlow's office, my quarters," Deryn paused to undo his necktie, "The closet in the main hallway." Her eyes flicked up to meet his, mischievousness swirling in the blue depths.

"Deryn-" Alek was cut off by Deryn pulling him to her by his necktie, their lips crashing together. Alek quickly recovered from the shock and wrapped his arms tightly around Deryn's waist, pulling her close to him. Deryn's fingers pressed into Alek's back, pulling on his shirt before reaching up and tangling her digits in his auburn hair. They pulled their mouths apart, huffing as they stared at each other. Alek inhaled deeply, "We shouldn't be doing this." Still, he made no effort to untangle himself from her.

Deryn sighed in exasperation, "Barking spiders, Alek. Just get to rogering me already."

Alek heeded her order and quickly moved his lips along her neck, kissing and nipping at her pale skin. She let out small gasps as Alek's teeth scraped against her flesh. While he was doing that, he slid his hands down, resting them on her waist before pushing his hands underneath the fabric of her shirt, his fingers gliding over her soft and smooth skin. As Alek's hands pressed against her, Deryn was quickly unbuttoning Alek's shirt, her fingers brushing over his chest after she finished.

"Liebe…" Alek whispered in her ear. He pushed her shirt up, kissing her over and over as he repeated the mantra.

"Alek." Deryn whispered with him, her hands trailing over his exposed skin. She kissed him, harshly and full of passion. She began reaching lower, making her way to his groin when-

"Mr. Sharp." A voice pierced through the intensity and Alek and Deryn jumped away, searching for the angry form of the lady boffin. They soon noticed the small unblinking lizard perched on the ceiling, staring at them, "I'm surprised you're up so early, but only you would create such a ruckus on a day off. Kindly come up to my office, and bring Alek with you. I have an assignment for you."

Deryn sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Aye miss, We'll be right up, end message." They watched as the message lizard scampered away before Deryn turned to Alek. "Apologies, I didn't mean to attack you. I'm sure you weren't expecting that."

Alek cleared his throat, already buttoning up his shirt, "I wasn't but… I must admit…" He smiled at Deryn, his face still red, "It wasn't that bad of a surprise."

Deryn felt her face heat up as Alek looked at her with such a soft look of love and she couldn't help but give him a peck, "You daftie. I love you, you know."

"Ich liebe dich auch, mein leibeling." Alek pulled Deryn into a hug and held her for a minute before Deryn pulled away.

"We better go see what Dr. Barlow wants. Has to be pretty important if we're needed this early." She took Alek by that hand and they made their way up to the boffin's office, blissfully unaware of what awaited them.

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter, please leave a review if you liked or didn't like, I need some criticism to move forward in my writing! Exams are coming up and I don't know when I'll have time to write, but hopefully it'll be soon!

Shout out to my boyfriend for being supportive and helping me write this chapter. Love you, mi vida.


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